


CB2 Files: 3- Stell: Curse of Emotion

by zoruas



Series: CB2 FILES [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Other, Prim's Prophetic Powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 08:38:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14328705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoruas/pseuds/zoruas





	CB2 Files: 3- Stell: Curse of Emotion

The God of Desire’s gaze was nothing short of cold and calculating as he regarded the three. He sat on a throne of polished black stone, draped in lavish obsidian robes. In front of him, a single large dark ember flickered brightly through the room, casting shadows against the oceanic paintings on the walls and the intricate carvings of waves and shells. With a deep, regal sigh, he leaned his face against a pale fist and focused his hollow eyes on the brightest of the three that kneeled in front of him. The contrast between them as stark- Desire was as dark as the very depths of the sea, while Emotion was dressed in bright pink and orange shades. His eyes flared brighter than the fire he was behind, and as they slowly raised to meet Desire’s, they shifted into a wild russet hue.

“Stell.” Desire said, voice echoing through the high ceiling.

“Xenos.” Stell responded, a defiant note present in his voice. At this, the God to his right, bathed in moonlight and the sparkling of illuminated snow, shot him a apprehensive look. 

“We’ve been infiltrated,” Xenos carried on, a dangerous venom creeping into his voice, “And I can’t help but feel that you don’t have your head in the game. Are you aware of the cause of this problem? Do you understand the _severity_ of your actions?” 

“One case. One case in tens of children, Xenos. Surely you aren’t...couldn’t _possibly_ be implying that mingling with civilization is poisoned because of one rotten apple?” Stell gave a sharp, barking laugh, as if to emphasize how deluded such a sentiment would be. 

“You’re not willing to cut ties with the mortals to save the rest of us?” Xenos sneered. “Too weak, too self-obsessed to sacrifice something for the rest of us? You claim to love this civilization so much, but I think you’re lying.” 

Stell stiffened at this accusation. Xenos noted this with a hint of satisfaction and continued savagely: 

“Our Essence is crucial to the survival of this civilization. What do you think is going to happen to the people if it falls into the wrong hands? If it’s twisted and manipulated and people lose their desire to live, their free will, or their right to bear emotion in their hearts?” 

“It won’t come to that,” Stell retorted tightly. “We’ll put an end to this.” 

“Let’s look into the memories of your precious people a few years from now, why don’t we?” The God of Desire proposed softly. “Prim?” The God to Stell’s left, currently in the form of a young girl with wild hair, lifted her head sharply. A dreamy look came over her face, softening her features, before promptly hardening. Pale sand began to pour out of her eyes and pool onto the floor below. 

“ _Death_ ,” she gasped suddenly, voice distorted. “ _Death and destruction, headed by the children of the Compass_.” 

“The workings of time are fickle, Xenos.” Willpower said coolly. “Stell is correct in thinking that things might change, but we can’t be sure of that. Logically, the best course of action to take would be going back to our old habits of isolation.”

“How about _your_ children, Lyr?” Stell hissed. “Do you care for them, or do you spend your time fearing how they might destroy you?” 

“I’m willing to make sacrifices. Mortal lives mean nothing compared to the survival and safety of an entire civilization.” 

“How can we protect them properly if we refuse to know them?” 

Prim watched the heated exchange with wonder, and glanced over at Desire. His eyes were dark- darker than usual, that is- with rage. 

“Silence!” Xenos barked. “Our role here isn’t protection! Our role is to embody what they need to protect themselves!” 

“Emotion isn’t like Desire or Willpower or Memory!” Stell snapped. “I am what drives them! I’m not the foundation, like any of you. They created me- I blossomed from civilization, not the other way around!” 

“How _arrogant_ ,” Lyr said distastefully. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the Desire to live.” 

Stell opened his mouth, as if to respond, then broke off and closed it. At a loss for words, he gave Prim a pleading look. 

Fingers sparkling with sand, Prim closed her eyes and spoke. “It’s true that the Temporal Plane has been more grim than usual as of late. And it’s true that the irony that our children would be our own undoing is...maddening, at worst. But if we move now, and if we act now, things will change. There’s always been...mistakes. We can’t lose sight of our role. We are them.” 

“This argument is a waste of time.” Lyr said quietly. “If Stell agrees to end this madness, and we move to guard our Essence now, we can stop this at the root of the problem.”

A tense silence swept over the room as Memory and Willpower finished their statements. Xenos’s eyes were closed, and Stell watched him defiantly. 

“You’re too empathetic, Stell.” Xenos rasped softly, eyes fluttering. “Your love and mercy casts shadow over your decision making. You’ve become selfish.” 

“What you call selfish, I call decent. If anything, children with our power have a deeper connection to civilization. They can _help_. It’s unfair to judge and punish all of them based on one breach in security.” 

“You’re punishing all of them because you love too much.” Xenos opened his eyes suddenly and stood, robes trailing on the ground. He began to pace back and forth in front of the three, thinking hard. “They will suffer. Your own emotion is your undoing. Isn’t that ironic? That one so dedicated to protection, so selfish, would choose temporary love over permanent peace?” 

“You know no peace is permanent.” Stell breathed. “We’ve faced challenges before.” 

“And yet,” Xenos stopped in front of Emotion, shadows sweeping across Stell’s glow. “None of us have ever directly refused to stop whatever led to those challenges in the first place. Do you think you’re _better_ than us, Stell? Do you think that only we should be making sacrifices? That you’re above that kind of selflessness?” 

“Every sacrifice all of you have made, I’ve done my best to add to. Our roles are different.” 

“You’re right. We _are_ different.” Xenos’s gaze sharpened with bitterness. “I don’t mingle with civilization. I know my limits.” 

Stell fell silent. 

“Tell me,” Xenos turned back to his throne, and waved a pale hand. The stone shifted suddenly, and a circular platform took shape. A blurry figure appeared on top of it, shining with the distinct golden energy Stell emanated. Despite this, the figure was clearly mortal- he wore a black uniform with golden lining, and was currently sitting at a table with shadowy figures. He had a bored, uncaring look to him; eyelids drooping, he regarded the meeting he was participating in with hardly a hint of care. 

“If it came down to it, really came down to it.” Xenos stepped aside, pointing to the son of Stell. “Would you choose us, or him?” 

“Xenos-” Prim protested, sand flashing red with tension. 

Desire raised a hand to stop her. “Let him answer.”

Stell’s gaze was trained on his son. A sense of deep anger emanated from him, pulsating across the room and sending shivers up the spines of the other Gods. “You all, of course.” He hissed. “Don’t be foolish."

“Surprising.” Xenos swept his hand across the image of the mortal, and it broke apart into mist. His throne shifted and returned, and he sat, observing Stell keenly. “Clearly, your priorities have shifted. I lost control of Desire because of your child and your arrogant refusal to admit defeat. I am a leader. And being a leader means protection, and making difficult choices to get to necessary goals.” 

“What are you suggesting?” Stell’s voice had risen an octave. Ignoring him, Xenos continued. 

“Since we’ve reached an...impasse. There is no alternative.” 

“No alternative to what?” Stell demanded desperately, rising to his feet. 

“I think you know.” Xenos’s hollow eyes swam with the depths of the ocean as he leaned forward, dark electricity flashing between his hands. “This has carried on for too long. If you’re so eager to betray us for civilization, and continue to damage it with your selfishness, you deserve to suffer with them.”

Stell was backing away now, but the stone wall behind him shifted closer and quicker, blocking his exit. He turned a furious gaze on the God of Desire, rage bubbling through the room. “This isn’t right. This isn’t just.” 

“While the rest of us enhance our essence and protect it from your crazed spawn, yours will be poisoned. More open to mortal influence. I revoke your immortal form. You will be cursed to forever be torn into pieces, living hundreds of different lives, and never feel the touch of your flame until I choose for that to change.” Xenos turned to Lyr and Prim- the former looked grim, and the latter looked horrified. “Are we agreed?”

“...Certainly. At least until we can solve this.” Lyr said, dipping their head. 

“No!” Prim said, standing up quickly. The pool of sand at her feet was growing larger as her voice took on a distressed, panicked tone. “This isn’t the way! You’ll doom us!” 

“We’ll see if that happens once we get to it.” Xenos said, voice scarily calm. “This is the only way to be safe for now.” The God of Desire stood up and began walking to Stell, who was pressed against the stone wall. The air around him crackled with panic and anger. 

“Xenos,” he croaked. “Come on-” 

“Shut up,” Xenos hissed, pace growing quicker. With a thunderous noise, his right hand became enveloped in shadow, and grew long, intimidating claws. He stopped inches away from Emotion and plunged his hand into the center of Stell’s chest, tearing cleanly through skin and bone and pulling out what looked like a dripping, golden ball of energy. Stell let out a broken gasp and fell to his knees immediately, but any sound after that was overwhelmed by Prim’s grief-tinged shrieking. 

“No!” She wailed, running forward. “No, NO!” 

Xenos stepped aside, raising the golden energy high above his head. With a final flick of his wrist, it evaporated. 

Stell was still gasping, gold dripping down his front and from his eyes. His glassy gaze was trained on Xenos as Prim wrapped her arms around him, sobbing. 

“He’ll be gone any moment now.” Xenos said, the slightest hint of regret in his voice. “He can’t enter this plane without an immortal form.” 

“You KILLED him!” Prim snarled, rounding on the God of Desire. “The Compass isn’t whole with only three of us!” 

“His effect will still be present,” Lyr said, trembling with suppressed horror. 

At that moment, Stell began to evaporate, eyes closed as he turned into thin golden mist and rose up and out of the room. Prim covered her face with her hands at the sight and let out another broken sob, sand trickling down her cheeks and onto the space Emotion occupied only seconds before. 

“He needed to learn a lesson. I don’t gain any satisfaction from doing this.” Xenos attempted to console Prim, but she ignored him. “When this blows over, he’ll return, and hopefully then, he’ll realize he was wrong. I...I did what I had to do.” 

“You don’t understand,” Prim’s hands dropped weakly to her sides and her voice became distorted once again. 

“ _The Compass’s curse will doom us all_.” 

Desire and Willpower exchanged stricken looks at that, and watched with an aura of deepest fear and regret as Prim kneeled by where Stell had fallen, tracing shaky patterns in the sand with her fingers. She trembled like a leaf as she did so, and the final picture was composed of thick, confusing lines, but the message was clear. 

It depicted all four members of the Compass of Sentience falling, and a mortal standing over them, wearing a necklace and a long dress and shining with the light of the God of Emotion.


End file.
